When Two Strangers Came Along
by TheIceKunoichi
Summary: What if the Vaizard never came to Karakura Town? A different take on Ichigo & co.'s misadventures after the Soul Society Arc! Ohh yes, chaos will ensue... Bipolar Rukia, cooking disasters, zombies, etc... - the usual.
1. Hello, Strangers

**FULL SUMMARY:**

How would life be different for Ichigo if the Vaizard were never introduced?

This tale marks the beginning of a crazy, unforgettable experience... And it was all because of two shinigami who unknowingly added flavor to the monotonous, oh-so-depressing life of Kurosaki Ichigo.

The next 96 hours with the two teenage shinigami are full of chaos and plenty of mayhem, and Ichigo and friends will soon learn that the hard way-- by experiencing it head on.

This story is divided into three arcs: **Soul Core**, **Darkened Memories**, and **The Vacation**. This chapter is part of the **Soul Core Arc**.

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**Spoilers:** This chapter contains the name of Byakuya's zanpakuto. Not much of a spoiler at all...

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_Blah -_

thoughts

"Blah." -speaking

**-FLASHBACK-** -a memory flashback

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Line break/scene change

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**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Bleach. (But Bleach surely pwns you. :o )

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**Chapter One: ****"Hello, Strangers"**

It was a seemingly "normal" day for Kurosaki Ichigo.

"GOOOD MORNING, ICHIGOOOOO!" Kurosaki Isshin, Ichigo's father, would barge into his room, launching another surprise attack on his son.

"Teme! Trying to kill your own son in his sleep?" Ichigo yelled, dodging it quite easily.

After his dad left, grumbling about new tricks and moves to pull on Ichigo next time, Kuchiki Rukia would slide open his closet door, waiting until after Ichigo's dad finished his daily attacks. She would have been up an hour ago, fully dressed and awake like the morning sun.

"Is every morning as loud as this? Anyway, I'm going ahead. Later, Ichigo." Rukia would then silently slip out of his bedroom window and head off to school without a backwards glance.

_How typical… It's just as loud as always, just the same as every other day,_ Ichigo sighed.

* * *

Later at school, Asano Keigo would try to talk to Ichigo about the latest 'hot chicks' that appear at Karakura High School. And just like all the previous days, he blindly ignored all of this by shoving Keigo off.

Class would start and their carefree teacher would check the attendance, noticing a few missing people and saying, "Ah well. They're punks, anyway…"

Everything was getting boring and a bit too quiet. Even the bird in the tree branch beside the window Ichigo was looking out of seemed bored. Its beady little eyes gazed upon him, unwavering and still, as if to say, "At least you're not a mindless, nest-building, worm-eating, flying ball of feathers."

OK, so maybe it wasn't saying that, but Ichigo had never felt so lifeless before- he _had_ to let his mind wander a bit...

Then, fate came and changed everything.

The door suddenly burst open to reveal a frantic, out-of-breath girl who looked she just ran a marathon to get to this classroom.

"Sorry I'm late, sensei…" she panted. Behind her was a boy of identical height, also out of breath.

"M-My apologies..." he spoke quietly to the teacher.

_Who on earth are these… Oh! Them…_ the teacher suddenly recalled.

"Everyone, these are our new students. Please make them feel welcome here." she gestured to the two teens detachedly, almost as bored as Ichigo was a moment ago. "If you two would please introduce yourselves…"

The girl with her brown hair tied up, deep green eyes, lithe limbs and seemingly energetic character spoke up first. (Ichigo had assessed all this since there was nothing better to do at the time.)

"Yo! My name is Kazama Yuki, age fifteen, birthday March 12, blood type-"

"You don't need to tell your life story, Yuki. Hello, I am Kazama Hirosaki, Yuki's brother." The spiked blonde-haired, crystal blue-eyed boy spoke.

The first few things that looked out of place to Ichigo were their hair color and eyes... They said they were siblings, but why were their features so different?

"So where do you come from?" the teacher asked monotonously. After all, she had asked these prepared questions to every new person who had appeared... And at this particular high school, _a lot_ of new, strange people always manage to pop up.

"Okinawa." They replied swiftly and simultaneously- almost in a rehearsed tone.

The two of them quietly walked towards a few empty seats near the back after glancing at all of the faces in the room.

Class dragged on for another fifteen minutes. Ichigo might have fallen asleep if it weren't for his Hollow Tracker that screeched, "HOLLOW! HOLLOW!".

* * *

**-FLASHBACK-**

Rukia had returned from the Urahara Shop a few days ago and bought Ichigo a new Hollow Tracking System that would alert him if any Hollows came within a certain distance from it.

"Here." Rukia shoved a paper bag in his face.

"What's this?" Ichigo asked, and began unfolding the top of the brown crease.

"A new Hollow Tracker. You'll need one so you can fight Hollows when I'm not there to tell you where they are."

"Wait... You bought this from Sandal-Hat's store, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Don't tell me you bought a Chappy the Bunny Hollow Tracker…?" his eyes widened.

"No, don't be silly Ichigo! It's the Chappy the Bunny _7th Edition_, now with Flappy, his bunny friend on the front panel!! Isn't it adorable?"

"Oh, the horror..."

**-END FLASHBACK-**

* * *

Ichigo was caught up in that flashback and almost forgot that the Chappy the Bunny- whatever edition- was still mercilessly screaming "HOLLOW!" into his ear.

_Oh, right, a Hollow!_ Ichigo suddenly jolted up and unevenly said, "Uh, I got to go to the bathroom!" then bolted out the door, followed by Chad, Orihime, and Rukia, who all suddenly had an urge to use the bathroom as well.

"Oi! You'd better come back soon!" their sensei yelled after them.

Hirosaki and Yuki glanced at each other quickly and soon followed suit.

"You guys, too? Jeez…" the teacher looked around the room as a good portion of her students fled due to a suspicious toilet epidemic...

* * *

Ichigo slashed through the low-level Hollow before Chad, Orihime, and Rukia arrived.

"It was just one Hollow. I would've been more than enough by myself..." Ichigo frowned.

"Kuchiki! Behind you!" Hirosaki yelled from afar, sprinting toward them. Two Huge Hollows had unexpectedly formed behind her. They both clawed at their newfound dinner, but Rukia dodged the monstrous spirits with the Kazama sibling's warning.

Hirosaki cursed under his breath. It was unfortunate that he had to resort to desperate measures now, of all possible times... He did not want to show them so shortly after their first meeting, but plans changed when two gigantic Hollows appeared.

Hirosaki popped a Soul Candy capsule into his mouth and his body separated from his spirit, taken over by a Mod Soul.

"Stay back and don't get hurt!" he shouted to the the Mod Soul in his body.

"Roger!" Mod Soul Hirosaki fled from the battlefield.

Soon after, Yuki did the same and extracted her Shinigami form out.

At the sweet smell of fresh souls with immense reiatsu, more Hollows emerged from the ground, totaling to eight creatures. They circled the small group, with anticipation and hunger evident in their actions.

"Hold on… You guys are Shinigami?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

Hirosaki turned to Ichigo and the rest of the bewildered group, "We will explain later."

"Right now, let's concentrate on destroying these Hollows!" Yuki grinned.

_Oh boy. When something gets her in the mood, she could kill…_ Hirosaki sighed.

In a matter of seconds, she slashed through the first Hollow several times in quick succession; the first six slices were visible, but Yuki's incredible speed masked the next four. It shrieked in pain before disappearing into nothingness.

Ichigo, Rukia, Chad and Orihime didn't stand around too long and started activating their respective powers.

"Tsubaki! Kotenzanshun! I reject!" Orihime sliced through the second Hollow.

"Destructive Art 33: Blue Fire, Crash Down!" Rukia shot blue flames at the third hollow, but it did not disappear instantly until Ichigo sliced through it down the middle, while Chad dissipated his own Hollow with his monstrous strength.

"Glide, Yukitori!" Hirosaki's zanpakuto released and took form of an icy bird, wrapping the Hollow in its frigid blanket and slashing it to delicate crystalline shards.

_That's almost as scary as Byakuya's Senbonzakura…_ Ichigo shuddered.

The sixth and seventh hollow were destroyed by Chad and Yuki, and Orihime fired Tsubaki for the last one.

"Che. Way too easy." Yuki and Ichigo whined.

Silence fell within the group. They all glanced at Yuki and Hirosaki as inconspicuously as they could.

"It's time to head back to class." the two simply stated, completely ignoring the looks from the others.

The rest of them reluctantly walked back to school, hoping that these two strange students will tell at a later time.

* * *

During lunch break, a note was slipped to Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, and Orihime simply stating:

**Meet us at Ichigo's house tonight at 8:30.**  
_-Y & H-_

Ichigo looked at the note and narrowed his eyes.

"Since when did I agree for them to crash my place?"

_More importantly, how the heck'd they find out where I live...?_

* * *

At 8:45 that night, Ichigo sat on his bed waiting impatiently while Rukia read her manga on the floor.

"They're late." he frowned, his eyes drifting to the circular clock in his room for the fifteenth time.

"I can tell..." Rukia replied, keeping her eyes glued on the fascinating shoujo manga.

As if on cue, his ceiling tile opened to reveal a group of teens poking their heads out.

"Yo!" Yuki said cheerfully.

She was followed by her older brother, Orihime, and Chad. Surprisingly, Kira Izuru jumped down from the odd entrance as well.

"Kira?" Ichigo asked the blond-haired boy in confusion, "Why are you here?"

"I was told to go to the living world with Saki-kun and Yuki-san." He replied, sitting on the floor with the rest of them.

"It's about time you should know why we are here." Hirosaki and Yuki nodded to Kira, who quickly became serious.

"Soul Core has begun."

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**TBC**

This is my first Bleach fanfic! Please be gentle. :)

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R & R please! Flames will be used for my bonfire, BWAHAHA! (-glances over at bonfire-- there's a can of TAG, a fistful of dryer lint, and lots of foam plates-) :D


	2. Training Dummies

**Chapter Two: ****"Training Dummies"** (cheap pun? XD) **

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**

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Bleach. Thanks to Kubo Tite and his awesomeness.

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"Soul… Core?" Rukia whispered. 

"Are you familiar with it?" Kira asked.

Rukia shook her head, "Not exactly, but I might have heard of it when I was in Soul Society."

"Anyways, Soul Core was a project designed by that mad 12th Division a couple of years ago. It was a liquid drug that enhanced reiatsu greatly by extracting mass energy from deep within your soul. Kurotsuchi had many experimental souls on hand to test out the new drug..."

"You mean humans, right?" Ichigo scowled.

Kira looked downward, "Yes."

"That bastard... I won't forgive him for this!" Ichigo clenched his fists.

"I understand your feelings, but he's not our current enemy. Back to what I was saying, Soul Society captains found out about it and they deemed it too dangerous. Soul Core basically drained your life energy, and if used enough, it could forcefully excrete your life energy until you were nothing but a corpse. Also, storing the drug was costly and complicated. It was set to be destroyed the following day, ridding the need to guard it heavily and eliminating the risk of death upon use."

Hirosaki continued where Kira left off, "But even after its destruction, the shinigami who came in contact with that drug when it was supposed to be demolished all caught the Soul Core. They shinigami didn't suspect a thing and continued their daily missions to and from the living world and Soul Society. All of the infected shinigami began dying off one by one by Hollow attacks when they entered the living world."

"Hollows attacked them because of the Soul Core?" Rukia pondered.

Yuki nodded, "Although it forces out reiatsu, the ones who were infected by it have reiatsu surges in addition to shortening their lifespan. The spirit power in themselves increases and decreases at such a severe level and short amount of time that Hollows find them vulnerable for consumption."

"So basically what we're trying to say is that Soul Core is like steroids, but every time you use it, a fourth of your lifespan will be consumed. The fluctuating energy level in your body is not in balance, which acts like Hollow bait. Even if you aren't using its power, the Hollows will still smell a powerful soul brimming with immense energy. It's only a matter of time before Hollows devour those infected humans who caught Soul Core from the original shinigami who came in contact with it." Saki said.

Yuki frowned, "Unfortunately, we can't destroy it in the living world. We can only contain it and send it back to 12th Division so they can permanently seal it."

"So how do we do that?" Orihime asked.

"With the help of a few 4th Division members, they can tap into a human's reiatsu flow and remove the traces of Soul Core causing this power surge. Unfortunately, 4th Division is stuck in Soul Society with a crisis going on over there. In their place, we'll be the ones doing the capturing and reiatsu removing." Yuki grinned.

"Wait, what?" Ichigo looked at her in disbelief.

"You'd better pay attention to this crash course we're about to give, everyone." Yuki grinned even wider.

"Yo, Kurosaki-san!" the Urahara Shop manager suddenly poked his head through the window, waving that fan of his.

"Sandal-Hat? What are you here for?"

"Insurance!" he said happily.

**

* * *

****AN HOUR LATER, THE FLOOR IS ON FIRE

* * *

**

"ICHIGO! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?" Rukia screamed, "Don't wave that fan, Urahara! You're making the fire grow, idiot!"

"Jeez…" Hirosaki froze the ground with his zanpakuto.

"Um… my bad...? At least we're lucky my family went on a camping trip at noon today..." Ichigo squeaked.

"Aiiya… This will take a while." Yuki groaned.

* * *

And indeed it did. Orihime accidentally tripped over the dummy used for reiatsu training, causing an ironic chain reaction. Rukia, surprised by the dummy falling on her, accidentally grabbed onto Ichigo and sucked up a chunk of his energy. 

"Rukia… let go… of me…" Ichigo gasped, almost slumping to his knees.

"I'm sorry!" she let go of Ichigo, who now looked like he fought twelve Hollows at one time.

"Alright, forget the training dummies for now. Just watch me do it (again.)" Hirosaki sighed but did not actually say 'again.'

"Kira, can I use you for a second?" Kira nodded.

"Concentrate your reiatsu into the hands," his hands glowed a soft blue, "Gently ease into the other person's reiatsu," he slipped his hand above Kira's chest, which suddenly became see-through, almost like an x-ray photo.

"Now slip your hand inside and try to balance it out," the area around his hands started glowing bright blue, then dimmed to the light blue of Hirosaki's reiatsu, "And then, remove the foreign reiatsu, which should be dark violet." Hirosaki removed a millimeter ball of Kira's reiatsu as an example.

Kira still felt uncomfortable with someone entering their energy through him, even after the fourth time Hirosaki did it. It just felt _weird,_ like someone was sifting through his insides.

"Kira doesn't seem to be enjoying having his reiatsu removed because of your lack of speed-learning. So this better be the last example we'll show you." Yuki frowned to the group.

"Everyone let's get back to work!" Urahara Kisuke chirped happily.

* * *

Half an hour later, everyone seemed to get the hang of it. 

"Let's do this!" Hirosaki grinned, finally free of teaching and ready to be out in the field.

"Now we'll split up into two-person teams. Ichigo and Rukia, Orihime and Yuki, Kisuke-sama and Sado, and Kira and I will be in a team."

"Kisuke-sama, please show them the materials." Yuki said.

"First, you'll be receiving a specially formulated spray from the one and only, Urahara Shop!" Urahara pulled out a small, metal spray can, "When you first meet the person with severe reiatsu surges, and trust me, you'll know when you're near," Urahara added, "Spraying them with this canister will knock them out for a while and will also alter their memories of encountering you. Ingenious, isn't it?" the blond manager nodded to himself approvingly.

"Secondly," Hirosaki raised two fingers in emphasis, "We have provided you with a type of reiatsu radar so you don't start running around town blindly."

"Thirdly, you must eat these spirit pills every ten minutes for you to become invisible as if you were a shinigami and you can walk through walls undetected. Still, some humans have high reiatsu, so they may see you." Yuki continued.

"If there happens to be a problem, we will contact each other by radio. Lastly, be prepared to fight with Hollows on the way. When we are finished, we'll meet back at the rendezvous point, which will be Ichigo's house. If there are no more questions, we'll depart immediately," Kira looked around, "Good. Let's go!"

And so, the search for Soul Core victims has begun.

**

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****TBC **

Heh… Some 'insurance' Urahara was… (-hence the fire scene-) It's just so fun writing his character. :D

Man, I used the word 'reiatsu' a LOT in this chapter.

**

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****OMAKE: **

"CRAP!" Hirosaki suddenly yelled while running on the roofs with Kira.

"What's wrong, Saki-kun?" Kira faced him, not dropping his pace.

"I told the Mod Soul in my gigai, 'Stay back and don't get hurt.' I don't know where to find him now!" Hirosaki groaned.

"I'm sure he'll turn up… eventually…" Kira assured him meekly.

"I hope he's not going around picking up chicks like Kon would do in Ichigo's body…" Hirosaki shuddered, "I don't even want to know."

**

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****MOD SOULS: **

"Guy's night out!" Sai, Hirosaki's Mod Soul, drunkenly slurred.

"And girls... Pyon!" the pill in Rukia's gigai added, motioning to Sen, Yuki's Mod Soul.

"Oh man… We should have been friends earlier. Ichigo and nee-san are so boring. Well, maybe nee-san's OK, but Ichigo would never do this…" Kon slammed his glass down, "Ossan! One more!"

"Same for the three of us!" Sai collapsed on the bar table.

With their newly refilled beer mugs, they clinked glasses in cheers.

Well, at least they were _just_ underage drinking…

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R & R please :) 


	3. Soul Core Hunt

This chapter marks the end of the short Soul Core Arc... Time for a completely different genre in the _next_ arc, Darkened Memories. Anyone up for attempted angst...?

******

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**

**Chapter Three: "Soul Core Hunt"**

"It just feels wrong…"

"What does?"

"We're breaking and entering private property."

"Since when did you care about that?"

"Well, it was in a detective manga I read…" Rukia replied as a matter-of-factly.

Ichigo sighed, "Actually, we're doing them a favor. We're breaking in to relieve them from their reiatsu surges, which saves them from Hollows, and that spares them from an early, unforeseen death."

"Since when did you become profound?" Rukia smirked.

"Che."

"Eaten your spirit pill yet?"

"Yep."

"Let's do this." Rukia took a deep breath as they easily passed through the wall of the victim's house.

"Remember what we agreed on." she reminded him.

"I know, I know. I spray, you remove." Ichigo replied.

The duo walked quietly through the sleeping human's room out of habit... Not like he could hear or see them anyways.

"Is this the one?" Ichigo whispered.

Rukia nodded to Ichigo, who then sprayed a small amount on the Soul Core victim's face. He suddenly went limp and Rukia proceeded to remove the dark violet orb from inside him.

"Let's move on." Ichigo started walking through the wall again.

On everyone's tracker, a yellow dot disappeared when Rukia and Ichigo took care of the first human.

* * *

A mile away, Kira and Hirosaki fought two Huge Hollows at a victim's house. 

"Augh!" Hirosaki clutched the gaping slash in his right upper arm. If he reacted a split second slower, his arm would have been ripped off.

"Saki-kun! Are you OK?" Kira asked his injured teammate.

"Don't worry yourself over it." Hirosaki shakily stood up and held his zanpakuto with both hands.

"Omote o agero!" Kira released his zanpakuto to shikai.

He sliced the monstrous Hollow with Wabisuke several times, tripling the weight of its arm. It was anchored in place and was vulnerable to Kira's final slash.

"Glide, Yukitori." Hirosaki softly commanded his zanpakuto.

The graceful snowbird swept its long icy wings around the Hollow's legs and slithered its way up to the chest, slicing everything it touched into crystal-like shards.

"Do you have the canister, Izuru?" he turned to his friend after the Hollow shrieked, in pain, vanishing.

"Yes." Hirosaki took the canister from Kira and lightly sprayed the mist onto the already unconscious human who witnessed part of their battle. Kira then reached into the boy's chest and extracted the mass of purple.

"Our work is done here."

* * *

"Orihime-san!" Yuki yelled. 

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Orihime created a triangular shield around herself and Yuki before a Hollow clawed at the two of them.

"Thanks." Yuki pulled out her zanpakuto, sprinted away from the safe haven behind the shield and sliced the medium-sized Hollow twice diagonally. The black monster roared in frustration and pain as it disappeared from this world.

"Have you sprayed them yet?" Yuki asked, walking over to where Orihime was kneeling beside an unconscious 8-year old girl.

"Yep! All that is left is for you to contain the Soul Core reiatsu."

"I'm on it."

* * *

"I'll take care of this Hollow. Please go and help the victims." Chad's right arm transformed into the red-and-black armor. 

"Oi, Sado-san, that's no fun…" Urahara pouted.

Chad groaned, (inwardly, of course) _How could someone like Urahara-san be such a kid?_

Urahara suddenly became serious and waved his fan, "Hai, hai."

Well, that's about as serious as Urahara could be.

He sprayed the formula on the human and poked him curiously.

_What? This crap actually works? For a second there, I thought it wouldn't, like all the other times my customers received malfunctioning products. I am such a genius…_ Kisuke nodded away happily.

Chad looked over at Urahara poking the victim after Hollow withered away in a bloody mess and wondered how this man could have been the former 12th Division captain…

* * *

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo gaped. 

"I meant exactly what I said. You and Rukia missed out on all the fun. You're the only team that didn't have to fight any Hollows." Yuki smirked.

"Anyways, what do we do with all of this black-ish purple goop?" Ichigo sighed and held up the Soul Core reiatsu floating in the palm of his hand.

"Keep it in a glass jar and stick it on your bedside table."

"You serious?" Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"Well, it _does_ make a good lava lamp..." she laughed, "We won't need it until we return to Soul Society, anyways. It won't spread even if you leave it lying on the floor because Rukia and I have already sealed it with special kidou as soon as you brought it."

"Oh..." Ichigo was now considering the reiatsu as a lava lamp in his room. He had to admit, a shiny new lava lamp didn't sound like a bad idea...

"Kazama-kun!" Orihime took note of Hirosaki's bleeding arm when she glanced around the group.

"Oh, this? Don't worry about it, it's just a graze." Hirosaki assured her. Actually, it was an inch deep, but he didn't want Orihime-san worrying.

"No matter what you say it is, please let me heal it!" Orihime pressed.

"But...-" he hesitated.

"This is one of those times where you just shut up and accept the favor, aniki." Yuki muttered.

Hirosaki sighed. He couldn't argue with his little sister, regardless of the two-year difference.

Smiling sheepishly, he let Orihime heal the injured shinigami.

After thanking her, Chad, Kira, Orihime and Urahara decided it was time to leave.

"Bye, everyone!" Orihime bowed and left the room.

"I am glad to be of use in this matter. See you, Ichigo." Chad left the room after Orihime.

"Hey, where are you going to sleep, Kira?" Ichigo asked when Chad and Orihime left.

"I'm going to Urahara's place for a night."

"Yes, unlike Abarai-kun, Kira is very helpful, ne, Kira-san?" Urahara beamed. He just got himself a new dish washer and cleaner. Who wouldn't be happy?

"Er..." Kira didn't know what to say.

Ichigo attempted to save the poor blond from Urahara, "Uh, Kira? You can just stay at my house...-"

"No, no, it's quite fine, Kurosaki-san! It's no trouble for me at all!" Urahara wasn't about to lose his newly enslaved employee.

Kira heard a lot about Urahara-san from Renji-kun... He just hoped that Renji was lying about it.

"We're off, Kurosaki-san. We'll inform you if there's anything of importance!" Urahara waved at them, dragging along a helpless Kira. His fate was now sealed.

"So, where are you guys sleeping?" Ichigo directed the attention to Hirosaki and Yuki who were still in his room.

"Isn't it obvious? Your room, of course!" They both grinned simultaneously.

**

* * *

****TBC**

I send my sympathy to Kira...

* * *

**OMAKE:**

Kira suddenly rushed back into Ichigo's room dragging Kon, Pyon, Sen, and Sai with him.

"I found your Mod Souls wandering the streets! They reek of alcohol, too." Kira cringed his nose.

"I'm as sober as a cow..." Kon slurred.

A vein popped as Ichigo watched Kon waste _his_ body and _his_ system. Pulling out his Shinigami extractor, he slammed it on Kon/Ichigo's forehead. The little green capsule popped out from behind the head and fell on the floor.

"NEVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN..." Ichigo twitched as he spoke every word.

Ichigo could imagine the scene if he were to lose his temper:

* * *

"What the $!&# did you do to my $!&# body, you $!&# $!&#!" 

Rukia would totally pwn Ichigo if he said that around their new guests...

* * *

He tossed the license to Rukia, who removed the Mod Soul from her own gigai and then the others. 

"Killlll joyyyyy!" Sai yelled before he was separated from Hirosaki's gigai.

"That's fascinating. I didn't know Modified Souls could get inebriated... Or let alone drink..." Hirosaki stared thoughtfully at the four little pills.

Ichigo cooled down a bit and turned to Kira who was standing at the doorway, "Anyways, thanks for bringing them back."

"No problem." he turned to leave.

"Wanna stay for a while before going back to Urahara's?" Hirosaki sympathetically called after his friend.

"Yes! Thank you!" Kira darted back into the room.

"What did he make you do?" Ichigo questioned.

"He's going to make me clean again! I don't **do** cleaning!" Kira wailed.

Yuki sighed at the child-like behavior of her friend, the high-ranking 3rd Division Vice Captain. Oh, but if only she knew how monstrously messy the Urahara Shop actually was...


	4. Shadowed Past, Part I

Spoiler for the end of the Soul Society Arc if you squint... I also mentioned one tiny manga spoiler that happens about Rukia's whole sob story thing.. Yay, we've reached the second arc in the entire story! Now, time to write about death, blood and short-lived grief...- The things I'm not good at writing about... I hope I didn't fail it too terribly... XO (Actual story-telling begins in Chapter 5...)

Story Arc II: Darkened Memories

**Chapter Four: "Shadowed Past, Part I"**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY:  
**"So, where are you guys sleeping?" Ichigo directed the attention to Hirosaki and Yuki who were still in his room. 

"Isn't it obvious? Your room, of course!" They both grinned simultaneously.

* * *

"What do you mean you'll be sleeping here?" Ichigo gaped at the abruptness of the situation. 

"We're not going to be a bother."

"That's not the issue! My family comes back from their camping trip tomorrow at noon. What will you do if my dad catches you two in here as well? Rukia's sob story won't work again…" Ichigo shuddered. Actually, he _could_ imagine Kurosaki Isshin hugging the poster of his mother saying, "Masaki! We have another son and daughter now!" He shoved that thought out of his mind and sighed, "Rukia, what do you think?"

"I don't think it's such a bad idea…" Rukia shrugged, "But it _is_ your house."

"Where are you planning to sleep?" Ichigo sighed after a while.

"The floor is fine." Hirosaki looked over at his sister, who nodded.

"Also, there are reasons for us to stay in the living world as well." Yuki frowned.

"What reasons?" Rukia became curious.

"As we said a couple of hours ago, 4th Division was busy back in Soul Society because of some crisis that was going on."

"Although it is our duty to assist our Division in any way we can, our captain ordered us to stay in the living world until this mess is cleared. Because of this 'crisis,' they have sealed off the portal between Soul Society and the living world," Hirosaki bit his lip, "Even we don't know what's going on over there right now."

"Communication has also been cut off for a while. We should receive word from Kimura-taichou soon…" Yuki checked her cell phone for the ninth time.

_I feel so useless not doing anything at an important time like this. What are you doing, Kimura?_ Hirosaki sighed.

Silence fell in Ichigo's room as the two siblings sulked, lost in their thoughts.

_They're just like twins…_ Ichigo mused.

"OK, snap out of it. I'm already starting to feel depressed reiatsu coming from you guys." Ichigo rubbed his neck.

"Ah, sorry…" they apologized.

Rukia started a conversation, "Please tell us about yourself. We're certainly curious about it…" She recalled earlier today in school when they suddenly revealed themselves as Shinigami and fought the Hollows alongside with Chad, Orihime, Ichigo and herself.

Yuki was the first to speak, "As you know, my name is Kazama Yuki. I am also the 4th Seat of Division Zero."

"Division _Zero_?" Ichigo and Rukia both raised their eyebrows.

"Yep. It would be odd to call it 0th Division, so everyone usually dubs it 'Division Zero.'"

"But I thought it was called Gotei 13… If there is another Division, then…" Rukia began.

"-Then it wouldn't be called Gotei 13? They stopped calling it that name shortly after Aizen's betrayal. Soul Society was in such a mess... The Divisions got too crowded and there were more Shinigami with different abilities that didn't completely match up with the other Divisions."

Hirosaki added, "There is also 14th Division. It was added after Division Zero."

_AIZEN...! Yeah, we'll jump you later...- You and your Hollows! BWAHAHAHA!_ Ichigo's evil genius mind cackled. Out loud, he asked calmly, "So what position are you, Hirosaki?"

"Division Zero, 3rd Seat." He replied.

"Do you know why he's the Third Seat?" Yuki smiled while asking them.

"Yuki, don't…-" the elder brother's request was futile.

"In reality, he should have already been Vice Captain and would probably be responsible for taking Kimura-taichou's spot if something were to happen." Yuki boasted.

"Aiiya…" Hirosaki groaned. He received praise from everyone about how good he was and that he should at least become Vice Captain. However, hearing it from his sister was another thing.

"May I use your bathroom, Ichigo-san?"

Ichigo nodded, "It's across the hallway."

After leaving the room, Yuki continued talking.

"He should have become the Lieutenant under Kimura-taichou…" Yuki sighed.

"What happened?" Rukia wondered.

"He declined it. Hirosaki said that he had his own reasons, and also, if he was to become Vice Captain and died fighting, there would be no one to take care of me," Yuki slightly smiled and rested her face in her hands, "It's pretty pathetic if you think about it. He's getting such a great promotion and he declined it because he's worried about me." she frowned.

"It's good that he cares for you." Rukia told her.

"Yeah, but I feel like useless dead weight. I'm restricting him from his full potential." A sigh escaped her, "You know, he kind of reminds me of you, Kurosaki Ichigo." She looked at him.

"Me?" Ichigo tried to see the similarity.

"You're loud, short-tempered, and hasty, Ichigo. He's quiet, cool, and decisive. He's like a mini Hisagi Shuuhei." Rukia laughed.

Yuki contemplated, "Yeah, I guess so..."

"What's so great about the 69 tattoo guy?" Ichigo shrugged.

Rukia and Yuki both shot an icy death glare at him, "He's _really_ great." The two fangirls sighed and started talking about how "_really_ great" the 9th Division Vice Captain was.

"Can we get back on topic?" Ichigo said, sick of the girly chitchat.

Yuki continued speaking, "You know, I'm not actually full Shinigami."

"Really?" Rukia was curious to find out if she was another special case like Ichigo, who was a human death god.

"I still have some human left in me. It was part of an ordeal a long time ago…" Yuki's mind wandered off to that delicate memory, back when she was eight in the living world.

"What are you doing?" Rukia recognized what she was doing as some type of kidou.

Yuki had done an incantation and summoned a large, black orb to the center of the wooden floor.

_I can't back down… I've seen this a million times. It is _not_ going to affect me again…_ Yuki breathed and gently said, "I will show you …"

* * *

**TBC in chapter five...  
**

* * *


	5. Shadowed Past, Part II

Gah, writer's block. D: Anyway, the chapter's out now! The humor (or 'attempted humor') will return... Just not this moment...

This chapter sums up the current arc of Hirosaki's past called, "Darkened Memories."

**Chapter Five: ****"Shadowed Past: Part II"

* * *

**

"Aneon."

Grim, corrupt, and bleak.

Within its so-called "city" walls, there, two orphans lived so detached from their environment, like flowers existing among weeds.

* * *

"Aniki!" Yuki laughed, calling out to him.

"Hi, Yuki. What's up?" He cheerfully greeted his younger sister.

"Look at this! It's the test you helped me study for!" she showed him a withered, graded paper with a large 100 scrawled at the top.

Hirosaki smiled. "That's great!"

"Yeah, it's all thanks to you," Yuki hugged him, "I'm going to go play at Lisa-chan's house for a while, OK? Wait for me at dinnertime!" she waved goodbye to her older brother and ran off to her best friend's house.

"Later, Yuki. Don't wander off!" He closed the battered door quietly and made his way to the makeshift kitchen.

* * *

**8:15 PM

* * *

**

Tapping his fingers on the uneven kitchen table, Hirosaki glanced at the faded black clock hanging on the wall and sighed, "Yuki's a bit late for dinner… But it's only been two hours since she left for Lisa's house. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much..." It was freezing cold outside, so Hirosaki couldn't help but worry. He hoped she would come home soon.

There suddenly came a heavy knock on the door.

"Yuki?" he walked toward the front door. Hirosaki would later wish never to have opened it.

A tall stranger in a faded brown cloak greeted him. "Well, well, if it isn't Kazama."

Hirosaki froze. He had no idea how this stranger knew his last name and he wouldn't risk finding out. He attempted to close the door on him, but a foot stopped him from doing that.

"Where is your father, brat?" the greasy-haired stranger demanded.

"I don't have one- he's dead." Hirosaki stammered, unable to get the scary man out of his apartment.

"Kazama is dead!" he laughed a throaty, inhuman laugh. As young as Saki was, he still understood this man appeared to be evil.

"I-If your business is done here, please leave..." he tried saying.

"Leave?" the man cackled. "Not until I return a favor to your old man." He motioned his partner in the back to come forth.

"Is this his brat, aniki?" the second shorter man asked.

"You heard me correctly." He smirked.

The younger brother's fist abruptly connected with the boy's face. Hirosaki stumbled, his eyes blinking back droplets of tears from the sudden hit.

"Leave some for me, too. We're doing this outside," the taller stranger pulled out a gun and pointed it at the boy's head. "You resist, this goes _bang_." He grinned.

Hirosaki had nowhere to run with the cold weapon in front of him and the second man gripping him tightly from the back.

Struggling, he tried to fight him off to no avail as the first man bound his arms and legs. The second carried him after he was bound.

"Let me go!" he screamed. No one heard him, as he was soon muffled.

"The brat's squirming too much!" the stout, brown cloaked man groaned in disgust.

"Set him down." The elder brother commanded. The second man obeyed, lying him face down on the ground. The tall stranger crashed his foot down on Hirosaki's head and it made contact with the hard, gray cement. He soon quieted down in silent pain as his consciousness abandoned him.

* * *

_Where am I…? _His mind was in a daze. His vision became slightly better as he looked around him. Hirosaki was in a dark alleyway. He still felt the ropes cutting into his wrists and feet.

"About time you woke up, brat." The taller man bluntly jabbed his ribs with his foot. Or was it the shorter one? Hirosaki couldn't tell anymore. All he could feel were broken bones as the two men continued beating him, again and again.

Crying out, he slumped to the dirty ground of the alley, coughing up a torrent of blood.

_No, I'm not going to cry here!_ He forced himself to stop, but even after doing so, that did not rid him of the burning feeling of knives stabbing his chest, rupturing lungs.

"You're gonna pay for what your father did to our brother!" the rough hands of the shorter attacker gripped Hirosaki's throat tightly.

Straining to breathe, his fuzzed mind thought, _What my father... did?_ _But he was...police chief... They know a man… he arrested…?_

"Damn, the fun's over now since he's not even crying anymore. You don't have to strangle him anymore, Taro," the man gagging Hirosaki grunted dissatisfiedly and released his grip on his neck.

Saki gasped for breath despite the stabbing sensation that came with each intake and thought, _Nakamura Taro!_ He recognized the name instantly and listened wide-eyed as his attacker continued, "We just have to make sure that bastard's son is dead…" the taller of the shadowed men slipped out the same, cold pistol from inside his dark cloak and Hirosaki cried; he knew what was coming next...

BANG. BANG.

"Well, it wasn't as entertaining as I'd thought it'd be, seeing Kazama's brat suffer. But our job is done." the man named Taro had a smug look, his bloodlust evidently not sated by one crimson killing.

Leaving Hirosaki to bleed to death in the alley, his father's enemies turned around the corner and out of sight, as if nothing had happened.

He lay in a deep pool of his own blood in the dingy alleyway as a single flake of snow fell on his face.

_I've lost too much... _he faintly eyed the haunting scarlet liquid slowly surrounding him, his vision slowly fading away. His once-labored breathing seemed easier to manage now.

_Am I dying?_

Foggily eyeing the soft, pure snow beginning to fall around him, he thought, _It looks... beautiful…_

Hirosaki smiled lightly and breathed in a shallow breath of frigid air.

* * *

Yuki rushed to the impoverish room on 8th Street she called 'home.'

_I hope aniki isn't getting hungry waiting for me!_ she sighed, _I'll have to take a shortcut…_

Running through a couple of narrow, dim streets she knew quite well, she passed by two deserted alleys.

In a quick glimpse, she caught someone lying facedown in the second alley.

_Was it just my imagination?_ Yuki thought as she doubled back to look, _But someone could use my help… But what if I get kidnapped?_ She shuddered because of the thought rather than the cold, falling snow.

Yuki hated alleyways and other dark and scary places. Her brother had warned her to stay away from seemingly empty alleys, especially at night. It was 8:40 P.M. now, but winter in Aneon made it look like midnight.

"Hey, are you OK?" she called to the unmoving figure on the ground. As she crept closer, she realized that he was drenched in deep, red liquid that was none other than blood. At that sight she would have ran away, but then she recognized who it was.

"A-Ani…" she sank down to her knees, unable to finish.

_No!_ she cried,_ Saki is in the kitchen, getting hungry because he's waiting for me to come home so we can eat dinner together! He shouldn't be the one… This can't be him…_ She slowly crawled to him, eyes wide in fear and shock…in combination with a blur of emotions she had never known.

"Yuki…" he breathed, barely audible.

"Shh, don't talk…" warm tears dripped onto his bloodstained clothing.

"It's really... white... light..." he continued delicately.

"Don't say those things as if you're gonna die..!" She sobbed, holding him tighter. _I need to take him to a hospital! But how?_ She looked around frantically. Could she carry him miles away to the nearest hospital? She would just have to…

"I'm glad…you're okay…" he had a ghost of a smile on his face, "Yuki…"

His body sunk into her arms as he breathed his last.

"H-Hiros-saki…" she was shaking uncontrollably. "Why? _Why you..?_" Yuki's hands were stained with blood... _Her_ beloved aniki's blood.

"He's gone." someone whispered mournfully behind her.

"Who are you?" refusing to let go of the empty body, she turned around to face a tall shinigami. Her face still streamed hot tears.

"Can you see me, child?" the female death god asked softly.

Nodding, she asked pleadingly, "Can't you help? Can't you do something?"

"I am a shinigami; I can't bring people back to life," she replied solemnly. "But what I _can_ do, is help them pass on…" She turned her attention to Hirosaki's soul standing not too far behind his body.

"So I'm...dead?" Hirosaki's translucent blue soul breathed quietly.

"Aniki!" she cried in surprise.

"Are you ready to leave?" the shadowed figure asked him.

"I...-"

"No! You belong here in this world!" Yuki desperately tried to pull him back with words.

"…I'm sorry, Yuki," he sighed sadly. "But it's not my choice. I don't belong here now that I'm a soul," he looked at his translucent hands thoughtfully. "No… I don't belong in your world." He cringed at the harshness of his words. "Not anymore, Yuki. And if I stay here long enough, I could turn into a monster... I couldn't do that to you."

She had seen these monsters before... She could not imagine her brother turning into one of _them._

"I don't want you to become a monster, but I don't want you to leave, either," Yuki closed her eyes and suddenly smiled in tears. "I'm selfish, aren't I?"

Hirosaki smiled faintly and took a step back from his body. "Goodbye, Yuki. I'm sorry I can't stay with you longer… But please... Don't die anytime soon...okay?"

The shinigami performed konsoh on him with the end of her zanpakuto and he sank into the glowing blue circle in the ground to rest in peace.

Wiping away her tears, she whispered, "Goodbye, Hirosaki..."

* * *

Yuki had dried her tears just moments before, but they kept pouring from her eyes. She did not know how long she stayed there sobbing. The shinigami merely stood in silence behind her, and it was enough for Yuki to know that she was there.

The death god had one recurring thought during this time, _No one should die this young... It's just...not fair... _She sighed, struggling with her sense of duty and her mentality. Then she hesitantly whispered to the girl, "Would you like to see him again?"

Yuki paused her mourning only for a second to register the death god's words. "What?"

"If you want to see him again, the only way is for you to die as well. However, there could possibly be another method, if you're willing to try it…"

Yuki widened her eyes. "...Tell me."

"You have to eat this Soul Society pill first. I have to warn you, this is a risky pill. In exchange for becoming a soul forcefully, the pill uses your life energy to create a partial soul-like body, allowing you to enter Soul Society. Upon consuming it, you have two months until the Soul Society pill eats you from inside out. All that will be left is a useless, corroding human body and half a soul, only a shadow of your existence. Following the two months comes twenty-four hours of excruciating pain beyond belief... You may wish for death, but the only way to overcome it is to fight it. Only after you survive that ordeal will you become something that resembles a full soul with human traces, but your soul can never be recycled back into the living world again," she paused, observing the expression on the girl's face. "This means... Whenever you die in Soul Society, you remain dead...permanently."

The young female shinigami removed a portion from the end of her zanpakuto, revealing a tiny, hidden crevice meant for storage.  
She pulled out a small capsule emitting an ethereal blue aura. "Do you understand what will happen when you consume this?"

Yuki nodded slowly.

She eyed the girl carefully. "Then do you still wish to follow me?"

Without knowing what kind of place Soul Society was, nor caring about the torture she would have to endure, all she knew was that she had a chance to see her brother again. She knew she would have to cast everything else aside. Yuki stood, leaving the lifeless image of her brother behind, grabbed the pill, and swallowed it at once.

"Your fate was sealed as soon as you swallowed it," she smiled sadly, but admired the girl's courage. "I pray for your success."

She then motioned for Yuki to follow her around the city, until finally arriving at a tall, brick building on a deserted street.

"A Soul Society portal should be arriving soon for me. I have a Hell Butterfly with me, but you do not."

"What does that mean?" Yuki questioned.

"That means it'll be hard for you to go through the portal." she sighed, wondering if it was a bright idea for her to cross without a butterfly.

"I can do it." Yuki reasoned.

"If you say so…" the shinigami continued. "Once we are past the door of the Senkai Gate, we will have to run like our lives depended on it. They had the walls stabilized just a while ago, but I don't know if it will hold out until we reach the end. The Hell Butterfly ensures your safety when crossing between the living world and Soul Society, but you still must run fast. Just stay beside me as we go through."

"O-Okay…"

Seconds later, a large, glowing doorway formed in midair and slowly slid open for the female shinigami.

"Let's go!" she ran through the fateful portal followed by Yuki.

* * *

The shinigami and human emerged from the portal and in front of the great wall dividing Rukongai and Seireitei.

"It seems that we were dropped off outside Seireitei because you are not a shinigami… However, I'll make sure we get in."

Yuki did not know these names, but watched quietly as the shinigami walked up to the giant gatekeeper and whispered something to him.

Jidanbou shook his head. "But she's human!"

"Partially spirit as well as human."

"What? Even if that is true, she is neither a shinigami nor royalty."

"What if she were to go to the Shinigami Academy to become one and I was the one responsible for taking her there?"

"Is that your mission?"

"It is now." she stood her ground firmly.

He sighed and said, "These must be very odd circumstances if _you_ brought her here... I will open the Gate, but you will take full responsibility for handling that ryoka girl- even if she's part spirit, Keiko-san."

"The situation was bleak, Jidanbou, but if you were in the same position, you'd probably do the same thing." the shinigami reasoned.

"Why are you even doing this?"

The raven-haired shinigami paused for a moment, "...That's because of...repayment. I'm returning an immeasurable favor to someone..."

"I doubt that's a good enough reason for the higher ups to allow a _human_ into Soul Society..." Sighing, Jidanbou added, "Keiko-san... Don't do anything you'll later regret..."

"I know..."

Walking back to Yuki, she explained to her what was going on.

"Do you want to become a shinigami?"

"Shinigami?" Yuki wasn't quite sure what that term meant, either.

"The only way you can past this gate is to become a death god. You must commit yourself to the job as a shinigami and destroy Hollows."

"Hollows..." she repeated remembering what Hirosaki said to her about becoming a monster. Destroying those monsters?

"You have high spiritual power, correct? Then you must have seen them. They are huge monstrous spirits with a large hole in their chests."

Yuki nodded vigorously. "I was once attacked by one, but then a stranger in black kimono-like clothing saved me…"

"Do you want to be the one who saves other people from Hollows, just like that stranger shinigami saved you?"

Yuki hesitated. "Y-Yes…" She then continued confidently, "With my power as a shinigami, I will keep on searching for my brother. I'll help the souls in need of guidance... A-And I will rid the world of Hollows while I'm at it!"

"My, my, that's quite a goal." the dark-haired shinigami chuckled.

Turning over to the gatekeeper, she nodded. He reluctantly hoisted up the heavy gate as they began walking underneath it.

The death god named Keiko viewed the sprawling white structures that lay before her in the heart of Soul Society and announced, "Welcome to Seireitei, future shinigami."

* * *

**TBC...**


	6. The Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach... or the Fur Elise song remixed by DJ Mystik... Which is quite a good song. XD (Though I've never really liked the original Fur Elise...)

**Chapter Six: "The Aftermath"**

* * *

The moonlight illuminated Ichigo's now crowded room. 

Hirosaki and Yuki slept on futons on the floor, Rukia slept in his closet (as always), and Ichigo lay awake in his bed, recalling the previous experience just an hour ago.

* * *

**-Flashback- **

Ichigo and Rukia awoke from the kidou illusion Yuki placed upon them.

"Well, now you know..." Yuki's face was expressionless, vaguely showing some sorrow behind her eyes, "It's alright, I've seen it plenty of times."

"I'm... sorry..." was all Ichigo managed to say, scowling even deeper.

"It's all in the past." Yuki shrugged, "But I don't know what I would have done if she didn't help me..."

"Who was that shinigami?" Rukia inquired.

"That was... Kimura Keiko. At that time, she was in the 13th Division. Now she's the Captain of Division Zero."

"Oh... So what happened afterwards?" Ichigo wondered.

"I was reluctantly accepted into the Shinigami Academy under the direct care of Kimura-taichou. During my time there, Kimura and I attempted to find Hirosaki, as well as learning my zanpakuto's name and gaining my official shinigami powers. A month later, aniki appeared at the academy. He was transferred into the class I was in. You know what the first thing he asked me was?" Yuki smiled sheepishly.

"Are you dead?" Hirosaki finished the sentence, smirking from the doorway.

"That's exactly what he said. Jeez, the first day you see me again and you ask if I've died." Yuki mused.

"This whole storytelling thing was exactly the reason why I spent a good deal of time in the bathroom." Hirosaki sighed.

Ichigo and Rukia looked at him differently, as if they were seeing someone dead come back to life.

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Will you stop it with that look? It's not that hard to deal with. Every shinigami has died before... Well, maybe not Ichigo, Yuki and maybe other rare individuals..." Hirosaki shrugged.

"No one should die at such a young age..." Ichigo scowled lightly.

"That's also what Kimura-taichou said..." Yuki recalled.

"Don't let it affect you. I...-" Hirosaki was cut off by two cell phones ringing the Fur Elise remix by DJ Mystik.

"I love that remix!" Rukia exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, really!" Yuki grinned. The two siblings glanced at their Soul Society phones.

Yuki read the text message aloud:  
**Saki & Yuki:** Don't worry at all about what's happening in Soul Society. It was some idiot that made a mess, and us shinigami thought it was a ryoka attack or some of Aizen's doing... Among the mass of confusion and thinking that anyone could be an enemy, a lot people got hurt. It's pretty ironic yet frustrating... Crap, my phone can't send this much text, so I'll be quick now: Congrats on Soul Core containment. Mission completed b4 12-hour deadline. Now...

Yuki scrolled down to read the last of the text in bold lettering:

**Enjoy 3-day stay in living world!**

"WHAT?" Hirosaki gaped, "So that's the reason...?" he stared helplessly at the cell phone's bright display.

"The reason why she made us finish up the Soul Core mission in a night...Was so that we can spend a three day vacation on Earth?" Yuki raised her eyebrows.

"What's so bad about three days in the living world?" Ichigo shrugged.

"We played right into Kimura-taichou's hands..." They both hung their heads stiffly.

"Well, now that you're in the living world, you should make the most of it." Rukia added in cheerfully.

"Yeah, but we'll enjoy it tomorrow... I'm pretty tired now..." Yuki yawned.

**-End Flashback-

* * *

**

Ichigo frowned as he tried to think of a way to cover up Hirosaki and Yuki sleeping in his house when his dad and sisters come home from their camping trip tomorrow. Who goes on a camping trip in the middle of a school week anyways? Only Kurosaki Isshin did, of course...

_Well,_ he thought,_ I could hide both of them in my closet when someone comes..._ Ichigo imagined two very squished shinigami trapped inside his closet, _But then Karin and Yuzu will wonder why I bring up triple the amount of food to my room now..._

"Ah, dammit. That won't do..." he scowled.

"Is there something wrong, Ichigo?" Hirosaki opened his eyes and shifted his curious gaze towards Ichigo, who jumped in surprise.

"I thought you were sleeping!" his eyes darted around and whispered as quietly as he could, trying not to disturb Yuki and Rukia who were sound asleep.

"Not really." he half shrugged.

"Anyways, there's nothing to worry about... I'm going back to sleep. Good night."

"Good night," Hirosaki stared at the moonlit window, "Hey, Ichigo?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks..." it was only one simple and vague word.

"You don't have to thank me."

"I know..." Hirosaki faintly smiled and drifted off to sleep. Soon, he would be wide awake again...

* * *

**OMAKE:**

The four little kaizo konpaku were dormant in Ichigo's bedside drawer.

(Why doesn't this thing roll!) Kon tried pushing the right side of his capsule.

(ROLL, DAMMIT, ROLL!) Sai screamed in frustration. His screaming only reached the ears of the other Mod Souls because of a special communication device implanted within them.

(I got mine to move! Yes!) Sen moved her green capsule easily.

(How come yours can roll? Pyon!) Pyon asked, still locked in place like the other two.

Mentally shrugging, she replied, (It must be my modified ability...)

(OK, now try to roll out of this drawer using that crack up there.) Sai told her.

(Alright!) Sen reversed, then charged up the vertical wall, almost reaching the tiny opening of the drawer.

(Almost! Pyon!) she giggled.

Finally after a few tries, she rolled up the side of the wooden drawer only to fall toward Hirosaki, who happened to sleep there.

Everything became slow motion as she dropped into his mouth.

(NOOOOOOOOOO...!)

Hirosaki shot his eyes open and gagged on the green pill.

"What the h-" accidentally swallowing, Sen gained control of his body. However, his shinigami form did not come out as a result. Instead, Sen and Hirosaki fought for mind control.

(Get out of me!) Hirosaki's mental mind regained partial control and his hands clutched his head.

(It's not like I did this on purpose! And I can't get out of you even if I wanted to!) Sen complained, gaining control of Hirosaki's feet. Walking to Ichigo's doorway, Sen now controlled his arms while he controlled his legs.

Sen opened the door using the arms while the legs pulled back, trying to get inside the room again.

(Just let me get something with your body!) Sen yelled from inside his mind.

(Never!) Hirosaki switched control over to his arms and began dragging his body, clawing onto the floor and whatever there was to grab hold of.

Finally gripping a desk leg, he pulled himself towards the second drawer in Ichigo's room, hoping to find something useful.

Opening it, he spotted Ichigo's shinigami license and rammed it into his head, hoping for the pill to come out.

The annoying kaizo konpaku plopped onto the futon mattress and began rolling away.

"Now that's just weird..." he quietly mused and locked all four capsules inside the drawer with a roll of tape he found on Ichigo's desk.

Now with a very sore body and a wide-awake Hirosaki, he groaned, "I'll never be able to sleep..."

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING

* * *

**

"Ohayou..."Yuki stretched and yawned.

Waking up at almost the same time, Ichigo sat up on his bed and looked around his room.

Claw marks were on his wood floor, the door was ajar, the drawer was taped shut with massive amount of duct tape, his shinigami license lay under his desk, and on the floor lay a wide-eyed Hirosaki who didn't look like he slept much.

"Um... exactly what happened?" Ichigo asked as he looked around his room again.

"It's a long story..." Hirosaki groggily yawned, pulling up the blankets, attempting to sleep again, "Ten more minutes..."

* * *

**TBC... :)**


	7. Rukia Is Bipolar?

**IMPORTANT NOTE:**

For all of you non-manga readers and anime-only watchers, you might not know why Ishida was away for "X" amount of time. (X being an unknown variable, I don't know exactly how long he was gone, so I said it vaguely.)

Anyways, this all takes place in _somewhat_ of an **'alternate universe...'** It takes place AFTER the Soul Society Arc but does not include the Bounto (anime) or the Vaizard. (manga)

With that being said, just PRETEND that Ishida went off (-MANGA SPOILER-) _for the training with his dad to get his powers back_ (-SPOILERS END-) for whatever amount of time that was... Then he came back to crash Ichigo's house. XD

I'm not including the Bounto/Vaizard Arc... (YES, I know this is a kind of jacked up time frame, but it was necessary.) This is what would happen right after the Soul Society Arc IF, supposedly, the Vaizard never came, hence the similarities in anime/manga occurrences up until Saki and Yuki are introduced. Hn, check the word, 'supposedly'. :)

Now, please continue with about THREE MORE announcements, then onto the chapter we go!

* * *

It's been a LONG time since I updated (one week is long for me.) School has started for me already... I will try to update more and finish up the story, but there's no point in updating if no one actually reads it... :'( (-hint hint-) Anyway, enjoy this chapter:)

* * *

**A/N ABOUT THIS CHAPTER: **

I used to play a racing game called Burnout Revenge for PS2. There was this one time when I crashed into most of the cars, shunted many of the computer players, applied Crashbreaker more than enough times and I got a lot of Revenge Points. XD I think Rukia's OOC-ness in this chapter was somewhat like when I play Burnout. :D The game they play is similar to Burnout Revenge, but not quite. (One more announcement after this!!)

* * *

We're in story arc three already? It's called **The Vacation**! Let's see how much mayhem and chaos (chaos? I just love that word..! XD) the Ichigo groupie will get themselves into... Now I _FINALLY_ present to you:

**Chapter Seven: "Rukia is Bipolar??"**

* * *

**DAY ONE OF THE "VACATION"**

Ichigo crankily rolled out of bed after a previously eventful evening.

Just last night, he and his friends (except Ishida Uryuu because he has been mysteriously avoiding everyone lately…) met two shinigami named Hirosaki and Yuki, learned how to extract reiatsu, contained the reiatsu disease called "Soul Core," learned about Hirosaki's dark past, found out that there were actually 15 Divisions in Gotei 13, and then woke up to a sleep-deprived Hirosaki and his room completely messy.

Regardless of that long thought, Ichigo shook his head as he thought all of this was either a dream or the work of a crazy authoress making a part of the entire plot start and end in the same day…

After finishing his morning duties and dressing up for school, Ichigo walked downstairs to the kitchen where he half-excepted Yuzu to be making breakfast.

_Duh, of course she's not here…And dad couldn't attack me this morning either,_ Ichigo smirked, _Ahhh, the sweet sound of silence…_

RING RING! RING RI-!  
Ichigo picked up the phone hooked onto the wall, not expecting a call at this hour.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ichi-nii. It seems we're going to stay a bit longer than we expected. Dad said that we needed more 'family bonding time,' but I don't see how that makes sense seeing how you're at home… Anyway, we'll be home by Sunday night." Karin sighed, obviously not having the best time hanging out with a father that communicates like a child and a sister that gets excited over everything.

"Oi, I had reasons to stay back home..!" Ichigo complained to his younger sister.

"Yeah, I know," Karin's voice dropped low, barely audible. "_You and your… shinigami dutie_s..."

Ichigo gasped in sudden fear. Did she know that Ichigo was a shinigami? All he could hear from the other line was evil cackling and then the line went dead.

"Your sister's pretty freaky…" Hirosaki commented, casually sneaking up behind Ichigo.

Turning around, he nodded gravely.

**

* * *

****A very uneventful day at school that no one wants to read about just passed... So I'll just skip to when they get home... :)

* * *

**

**7:45 P.M. Friday night**

"...And this is the _Playstation 2_..." Ichigo pointed to the slim black rectangle after they finished up their bit of homework for the weekend. "On Friday nights, Rukia and I usually play a racing game. Since you guys are here, we'll play against each other in pairs."

Hirosaki and Yuki looked in awe at the little, black, humming device, then at the TV screen, which showed Rukia (she was the one driving the red Chappy the Bunny convertible) haphazardly crashing into every computer-player car (as well as all the light posts, too).

"DIIIE, you good-for-nothing, mistake-of-a-driver!" Rukia screamed as she ran over the poor silver Toyota. Suddenly, a dark blue Mustang grazed the side of her beloved Chappy the Bunny vehicle and sped off. The screen flashed the words, "HIT AND RUN!"

"What... did you..." Rukia's eyes gleamed an evil, glowing red. "NO ONE SCRATCHES CHAPPY THE BUNNY! RAWR!" In Rukia's demented state of mind, she jammed the turbo button and raced after her new victim.

Yuki and Hirosaki looked on wide-eyed at the many faces of Rukia. Bipolar probably wouldn't be enough to describe the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"She's kind of an aggressive driver when it comes to slow cars." Ichigo quietly muttered to them.

"Kind of...?" Hirosaki sheepishly questioned.

Yuki nudged him. "You're having second thoughts, aren't you, aniki?"

"What do you mean? Why would I?"

"Good, because you're up next!" Yuki flashed a million dollar smile at her older brother.

Rukia finished annihilating the blue Mustang and her Crash Points totaled up to 10,275. Turning around, she smiled sweetly, "Are you going to race next?"

Hirosaki gulped weakly.

**

* * *

****2 HOURS, 26 MINUTES, AND 39 SECONDS LATER

* * *

**

"YOU GOT PWNED!" The screen flashed the large letters playfully.

Rukia looked in disbelief that someone had _actually_ defeated her.

Hirosaki glanced over at Rukia and hoped that she wouldn't start getting bipolar soon... Seeing that she didn't look mad, he sighed happily.

"Congrats. You beat me. Even if it took you twenty-three times to do it." Rukia beamed, being a good sport.

Yuki raised an eyebrow and muttered softly to the boy beside her, "Ichigo, do you know if she has a mood disorder?"

Ichigo grinned and replied, "Even if she did, she'd kill me if I said that in front of her. Then I'd bet she'd apologize after she murders me..."

"Exactly... Did you see them going at it just a while ago?"

**

* * *

****-Flashback-**

"Dang it, I lost again! Rematch!" Hirosaki demanded.

"Challenge accepted, Salmon-boy!" Rukia was in her unstoppable gaming mode.

"Let's go!" Hirosaki switched to his gaming mode as well.

"Damn... It's been like, what, their 20th game?" Ichigo groaned.

"Actually, it was the nineteenth..." Yuki corrected. "And yeah, when are we gonna get to play?"

They were interrupted by Rukia screaming, "YOU ARE GOIN' _DOWN, _BIATCH!_"_

"Apparently, not any time soon... Was it a good idea to pair them up?"

Yuki looked at the 20" TV screen, then at the Chappy the Bunny convertible and the black Nissan ramming into each other repeatedly and sweatdropped.

"Yeah, I think they'll be fine..."

**-End Flashback-

* * *

**

**Mini Part II: The Calvary Comes...

* * *

**

After Hirosaki added his name to the high-scores list (he had to shorten 'Hirosaki' to just 'Saki'), it was finally Yuki and Ichigo's time to play.

But before Ichigo could select the model and color of the car, his doorbell rang. He wondered who in their right mind would show up at his house at 10:15 PM, but curiously swung open the door anyway.

...Hn. He was right. These people obviously _weren't_ right in their minds.

"Helloo--"

"ICHIGOOOOOO!"

"What the--! Keigo!"

"ICHIGOOOOOO!"

"Keigo."

"ICHIG--!"

"Will you quit it?" Ichigo's fist connected to Keigo's face.

"Hey Ichigo!"

"What are you doing in front of my house?!"

"Kurosaki..." an icy cool voice said from behind the group.

"You're here too?" He blinked twice at his group of school friends. Eh... What the heck... He might as well ask why two particular people were missing from the group...  
"Um... So where's Chad and Inoue?"

"Chad had to go to his relative's house. Inoue is off shopping for who-knows-what again. They told us to go ahead and crash Ichigo's house...- Ah, I mean, Chad told us to come _visit_ Ichigo's house... Yes, that is definitely what he said..." Mizuiro explained happily.

_Wait, that doesn't make sense... Since when did Chad have any relatives? And if so, why haven't they gotten screen time?  
_

"Oookay... Well, Rukia, Saki, Yuki and I were just playing a game...-"

"OMG! That hot chick is here?" Keigo sped past Ichigo's doorway to meet up with his newly found friend before Ichigo could whack him on the head.

_Just great..._ Ichigo groaned as he saw Keigo try to flirt with Yuki... Quite badly, he must admit.

"Kurosaki..." the same icy cool voice said again.

"Ishida..." He raised his eyebrows at Ishida Uryuu.

"Kurosaki..." -yet again.

"What is up with you and 'Kurosaki' dot dot dot?"

"Hmph." He simply walked into Ichigo's house. The other boy quickly grabbed his wrist and demanded, "Hold up, you disappear from the face of the earth for who-knows-how-long, and then just suddenly show up at my house?"

With Ishida's free hand, he coolly pushed up his rectangular glasses, "_That's_ none of your business. I just came because Asano and Kojima begged me to come. Did you even pay attention to what he brought in? Jeez..."

"Wait... What exactly did he bring in...?" In an instant, he dismissed Ishida's mysterious disappearance to glance over at Keigo, who was indeed tugging along a huge cooler that he failed to notice ten seconds ago.

Ishida kept on ranting. "I guess that's the difference between us Quincy and you Shinigami... Not noticing something as obvious as that right under your nose... Hn."

The horrified Ichigo didn't stop to listen to Ishida's rambles as he raced over to where Keigo was standing.

"What do you think you're doing? You're underage!" he gaped, still in his horrified daze, when he saw the bottle labels.

"Stop being so uptight, Ichigo. Have a drink?" Keigo shoved a bottle of strawberry daiquiri in Ichigo's face, "Hey, where's the _other_ stuff?"

"I replaced that disgusting, horrid crap with fruitier, not-so-revolting drinks."

"Yuki, you did that? Whoaa, that was fast! You know, I like girls who are..."

Yuki effortlessly roundhouse kicked him before he finished.

Ichigo scowled. "You are _not_ drinking in my house!"

Pulling himself off the floor and rubbing his sore cheek (and entire head), he asked, "Why, you don't like daiquiris?"

In a huff of frustration, Ichigo stomped away to where Rukia and Saki sat face-to-face, conversing about their love for Chappy the Bunny... Well, more like Rukia's love for Chappy the Bunny.

"Hey, Ichigo." Hirosaki looked up to see a scowling face.

Ichigo was lost in his own thoughts and did not respond. Pshh.. He had enough to handle, even with the two new shinigami in his house and all the chaos they had brought with them. He didn't need another ball of lead chained to his feet. He bitterly decided on a temporary solution; if anyone asked, it was all Keigo's fault.

"What's wrong?" Rukia questioned after he collected his thoughts, although she was used to seeing the angsty boy like this.

"Keigo's throwing an uninvited party in my house with some crap that he can't even get legally!"

"Ooo, that sounds fun... Come on, Ichigo, since there's already a party, just enjoy it! Oh, and they're just daiquiris. You know, low percentage of alcohol, fruity, sweet, yet a bit tart..." Yuki entered their conversation and grinned.

"Yeah, Ichigo... When was the last time you ever had a party?" Rukia added happily.

Ichigo looked in disbelief. Was anybody reasonable in this house, save for himself? And _Rukia_, of all people, had jumped on the bandwagon, too?

"You guys do what you want. I'll take no part in it."

And with that, Ichigo trudged upstairs to his desolate room.

**

* * *

****TBC...!**

"Low percentage of alcohol" for Yuki... She apparently can tolerate much, much more...

Ichigo is uptight and unwilling to participate in the party... Until a certain authoress hammers him in the next chapter... XD -fwahaha-


	8. Organized Chaos

This update was a bit late... :( I think I might only be able to update once a week or every other week.

All chaos ensues when they drink Yuki's specialty. :D

**Chapter Eight: "Organized Chaos"**

* * *

The trio of teens stood not too far away from Ichigo's room and whispered discreetly to each other. 

"Gah, this is cruel... How did you drag me into this?"

"But aniki, it was the only way we can loosen him up!"

"I agree. Maybe a _little_ alcohol wouldn't kill him."

Yuki, Rukia and Saki carefully turned the doorknob of the room labeled "15."

"Hey Ichigo!" Yuki cheerfully grinned as the three of them invaded his room without knocking.

"We, um, just thought you'd be thirsty..."

"So we brought you a drink!" Rukia finished.

Ichigo was sitting at his desk listening to his white mp3 player. He pulled off the earphones and stared quizzically at the tray bearing four glasses of scarlet liquid that he couldn't quite place his finger on, "...What is it?"

"It's... strawberry fruit juice... yeah..." Saki immediately shoved a glass up to his face.

"Oh... Thanks." Ichigo then shrugged and gulped it all down a bit too quickly.

* * *

**-Flashback-**

"Oh snap, Keigo brought the whole package in this cooler!" Yuki exclaimed as she opened the lid of the blue rectangle.

"Do you have all of the needed supplies?" Saki looked over at all of the various 'items' Keigo dragged along.

"Of course!" Yuki grinned and carried a heap of supplies in her arms over to the kitchen.

On the counter, she starting mixing, swirling, and shaking like a frantic bartender with 14 orders.

"BWAHAHA, I have finished...!" Yuki grinned evilly at her delicious concoction.

"That's... great... If I may ask, where exactly did you receive barkeep training?" Rukia looked at the four oz. glasses filled with about twelve different substances.

"Food Network and Wikipedia works wonders..."

**-End Flashback-**

* * *

After drinking Yuki's infamous "Margarita Remix" in one gulp, Rukia, Yuki and Saki gazed intently at him to see what special effects Yuki's madly skilled beverage had on him. 

"Hey, are you sure this is strawberry juice, 'cause it tastes kinda...-" Ichigo didn't finish his sentence before his head started spinning. Yes, he was very alcohol sensitive.

"Success...!" The trio clinked glasses and drank their margaritas down like shooters.

"Aahaha--- Rukia, you have two heads!" Ichigo deliriously stated as if it were a known fact.

"Oook then... Let's join the party downstairs..."

Saki had to help Ichigo down his own stairs because he kept on screaming, "OMG! It goes down! Hahah..." and then he tripped on... absolutely nothing.

When they reached the living room, Ishida and Keigo were drinking pina colada daiquiris while they watched tennis on ESPN2.

"I don't get it! What the crap is 'love'?"

(-Authoress cues the song, "What Is Love?" by Haddaway.. :D -)

"...Do you hear something?" Ishida suddenly asked wide eyed.

"OMG...!" Keigo became wide-eyed as well, "...Nope, I don't."

"Hah, me neither. Man, I am so wasted..."

The two guys just chilled there for a while... Then suddenly, Mizuiro came out of the kitchen with seven clear shot glasses and a bottle of sake.

"Never use sake!" Yuki (who just appeared out of the blue,) abruptly snatched the bottle of sake and the glasses from Mizuiro and raced off to the kitchen to go complete another drink order.

"She dosen't like sake..." Hirosaki shrugged.

"Me neither... But I planned to make the drink nasty because of a game we're about to play."

"What game?"

"You'll see as soon as Yuki finishes with... whatever she's making in there..."

* * *

**IN THE KITCHEN**

* * *

"No!" 

"What's wrong, Yuki?" Rukia asked as she appeared in the kitchen again dragging along Ichigo.

"Augh, it's all wrong! Ichigo's fridge doesn't have enough lime, and now the ratio is thrown off!" Yuki groaned.

"..." Rukia didn't know much about any of this, "I'm sorry about that..."

Suddenly, a bulb lit up in Yuki's mind. She then had a brilliant idea.

"Wait up... I could reduce the lime and the Triple Sec even more..." she paused for a moment, "Psh, who needs that? I can replace it with strawberries! Yeah... OooOO! I'll just dump the whole thing in! And then I'll...-"

Yuki continued talking to herself exuberantly as Rukia and Ichigo fled the kitchen and went over to the living room.

* * *

**IN THE LIVING ROOM**

* * *

Ishida and Keigo were still attempting to understand that tennis match. 

Mizuiro helped Yuki carry the glasses and the special drink to the living room where everyone was gathered.

"Yo people! We're gonna play a game, so you'd better listen up!" Yuki shouted to all the (underage) teens in Ichigo's living room.

"Alright, the game is somewhat similar to Pictionary, assuming we all know how to play it..." Mizuiro looked around the room for any confused looks.

"The object of the game is quite simple. Picking out a card from this stack," she raised the neat stack of cards in her hand for emphasis, "You will have to draw whatever's written on that card. Easy enough?" Yuki glanced around the room before continuing, "Well, actually, it's not as easy as it sounds. Mizuiro, tell them the next part..."

Mizuiro magically appeared with the previous seven shot glasses filled to the top with Yuki's mysterious drink.

"To put it simply, if you draw a picture that no one can recognize, you drink."

"But what if we can't draw?" Ishida shouted quite loudly.

"...Your loss..."

"Oh, and I made this batch especially strong..." Yuki gleamed.

_She's going to kill us all!_ Hirosaki knew about his sister's secret techniques when it came to drink mixing... especially when it came to drinks that Yuki labeled as "strong"...

* * *

**Twenty minutes later...

* * *

**

"Dat's de shiet rite der!" Keigo drawled, jabbing the picture of a "horse" that Ishida drew.

"What is wrong with you? That ain't even a horse, idiot!" Ichigo shouted. Not like he was any saner than Ishida.

"It kind of looks like Chappy..." Rukia giggled.

"Rukia... _Everything..._ reminds you of Chappy..."

"Pshh."

The three sanest of all the insane people in that sad little circle consisted of Yuki, Hirosaki, and Mizuiro. Yuki wasn't delirious like the rest of them because she made the drink herself, so therefore she was "immune" to it. Her older brother drew pretty well, so he mainly stayed sober in the game. Mizuiro sneakily found a way to cheat every time by fooling the drunkards, but Yuki and Saki didn't really care.

"What the...?"

"It's a dog."

"When does a dog have horns?"

"That's not a horn... um... that's a leg! Yeah... It's raising its leg."

After trying to explain every flaw in his dog drawing, the group accepted because of their blurry vision and lack of thinking. Saki and Yuki, however, knew exactly what he was drawing.

"Holy crap, it looks like a chicken wing. How the hell did he make it seem like a dog?" Hirosaki muttered to his younger sister.

Yuki shrugged, just as bewildered as Hirosaki when it came to Mizuiro's crap-job of a "dog."

* * *

**Drinking Stats:**

The game progressed and everyone ended up taking more than enough shots anyways:  
Ishida: 33 (just like Ishida hollered out loud, he couldn't draw even if his life depended on it...)  
Mizuiro: 10  
Ichigo: 15  
Rukia: 22 (every picture looked like Chappy)  
Yuki: 31 (she drank it voluntarily)  
Hirosaki: 11  
Keigo: 43

Ishida and Mizuiro passed out first.

Ichigo passed out after ichi go... (it's amazing how everything is 15 for him...)

Hirosaki went down soon after Ichigo.

Keigo fell in the middle of his 43rd shot, being the longest survivor with that amount.

Rukia tried to stay awake, but failed horribly. At least she made it to 22...

* * *

All that was left was Yuki, who was downing an 8 oz. glass before glancing around at all of the fallen bodies in the room. 

"Foolish little people. You lack... alcohol immunity..!"

(-Authoress whispers to Yuki-)

"Pstt... Yuki!"

"What?"

"This is Bleach, not Naruto!"

"Eh? But isn't Ishida the same as Sasuke from Naruto?"

"Come to think of it, he _is_ Sasuke... And Shirou from Fate/Stay Night... Anyways, just hurry up! I'm about to wrap up this chapter!"

"OK, gotcha."

(-Authoress sinks back behind the scenes in front of her keyboard.-)

"Che.. I ain't cleaning this up..." Yuki whiffed in the lovely stench that lingered heavily in the air... And it smelled... quite fruity...

With that said, Yuki plopped down on the living room floor and dozed like the rest of them, awaiting the next day where they will meet alcohol's evil twin called "Hangover..."

* * *

**TBC...**

That was my first impression when I watched Bleach after Naruto, "Hey, isn't Ishida Sasuke and Sasuke Ishida?" Then I heard that familiar voice yet again when I watched Fate/Stay Night.. XD

Await the next chap! I hope it finish the next one quicker than this one!

I'm hooked on One Piece... :P Maybe that's one of the reasons why I'm distracted, other than schoolwork, church, piano, violin, etc...

**A/N:** Please drink responsibly. :) Alcohol will kill your brain cells! Fortunately, they're anime characters and you can intoxicate them as much as you want. XD


	9. Charcoal for Breakfast

Have fun with this one... :D

**Chapter Nine: "Charcoal For Breakfast" **

* * *

"GOOOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" Yuki had more energy than usual, since she was the only one that was not groggy. 

"Aughh, it's only 10:30…" Hirosaki groaned from his slumber. He was lying on his side, scrunched up in the fetal position and buried under a huge pillow that he absent-mindedly found in the middle of the night.

"10:30? You think it's 10:30? Fool, it's nearly two o'clock and you've been dead asleep ever since you passed out!" Yuki yelled.

"Noooo, I need my sleep… My head hurts… I'm in paiiiin!" Ichigo rolled over to his stomach and started hugging the carpet-covered floor, as if he could get rid of the earthquake in his head by doing so.

"What did you expect? It's called a hangover! It'll go by faster if you're active, not fast asleep."

Saki squinted pitifully at his sister, "Is there no cure for this torture?"

Hirosaki's immouto sighed, "Jeez, you guys really are weak… Fine, I'll go make something. In the meantime, just go wash up…"

_If they ever make it up the stairs…_ She thought. It was truly a sad sight watching Hirosaki, Ichigo and Rukia crawl up the steps, clinging for their dear lives onto the rails. It looked as if they were climbing Mt. Everest.

She then strode over to the kitchen to create a remedy, not even noticing that Ishida, Mizuiro and Keigo mysteriously vanished. Actually, Ishida somehow managed to snuggle up beside the TV, Keigo lay in the middle of the hallway, and Mizuiro found a little corner two rooms away.

"Alright, a smidgen of salt, two limes, ten scoops of sugar..." Yuki mumbled to herself in the kitchen. It seemed as if she were making limeade, and well, it was exactly that. It looked perfectly normal until she reached into her cargo pants' pocket and fished out a durable plastic vile containing 2 ml. of mysterious cerulean fluid. Carelessly dumping the blue solution into the limeade pitcher, she started stirring until the drink became murky blue-green.

"It's perfect!" she marveled at her instant Anti-Hangover drink mix.

* * *

**Thirty minutes later...

* * *

**

Everyone gathered in the kitchen when Yuki called them in. She then poured the Anti-Hangover juice and passed it around to everyone.

"Is this... drinkable?" Ishida had a look of uncertainty. Well of course you'd ask that if someone gave you a mysterious liquid with the color of foggy ocean water...

"Do you want me to take it back?"

"No... I'll drink it." he gulped it down slowly. Everyone else followed suit.

Like Dragon Ball Z characters turning Super Saiyan, that suddenly felt rejuvenated and a powerful aura emitted from all six of them.

"UWAHH! I feel great!" Ichigo clenched his hands into fists. (Add veins popping, the ground cracking, and their hair becoming spiky and yellow for more effect... :D)

Soon, everyone felt the miracle of the steroid-like Anti-Hangover beverage. After gawking at the immediate effects, they all looked over at Yuki, who was standing beside the counter.

"What's for breakfast?" Mizuiro suddenly asked.

She raised an eyebrow, "It's 2:30! And do I look like an effing cook to you?"

"That reminds me... No one in here knows how to cook!" Ichigo sighed.

"Well, what about Ishida?"

Ishida Uryuu pushed up his glasses, "I don't cook."

"Of course you don't cook, you only know how to kill Hollows and sew!" Ichigo teased.

"What? You're mistaken, Kurosaki. On the other hand, _you_ only kill Hollows and... and..." an evil grin spread across his lips.

The orange-haired boy's eyes widened and his gaping mouth uttered a single, breathless word, "No..."

"You only kill Hollows and GAWK AT SWIMSUIT MODELS IN YOUR PRECIOUS 12-MONTH MAGAZINE!" He emphasized that last part.

Ichigo looked distraught, "You swore you'd never tell!"

"I never swore. I just said I _might_ forget about it..."

"You know what? You like to play with cuddly rabbits at the pet store!" Ichigo planned on getting revenge.

"You spend hours writing angsty fanfiction!"

"...So do you..." Ichigo smirked, "Oh, yeah... Remember that time you shot an arrow at a 12-foot wide unmoving object and missed?"

"Well, you used Wite-Out as nail polish in class!"

"You cross-dressed and ran around my neighborhood on the night of a full moon! And my eyes still burn from that image...!"

"It's not like I did that on purpose, you idiot! You once thought hand sanitizer was edible!"

"You don't want contacts because yo momma thought glasses made you look more sophisticated!"

"Are you talking about my mother, Kurosaki? Well, your mom was so...- oh wait... Sorry, I forgot..."

Ichigo ran off sobbing hysterically.

"He never wins at yo momma jokes because he doesn't have one..." Ishida looked a little guilty, "But he'll get over it in one minute, thirty-four seconds."

The other five spectators were replaying that odd conversation.

Keigo finally caught up to that one insult on Ishida, "Wait, you cross-dress? ZOMG, MY EYES!"

A vein popped on his forehead, "Shut up!"

"Well, that was... interesting..." Yuki blinked.

**

* * *

Twenty seconds of uncomfortable silence...

* * *

**

"...So... What's for breakfast?" Mizuiro asked yet again.

"Go get some flippin Apple Jacks or something!"

The group marched off to the kitchen pantry brimming with all varieties of cereal.

"I claim Fruit Loops!"

"Give me the Lucky Charms!"

A heap of people were squished around the tiny closet door trying to get their favorite fruity cereal.

"Dude, l'eggo my eggo!" Mizuiro and Keigo were fighting for the last strawberry pastry that just popped out of the toaster.

* * *

Breakfast at 2:30 PM became a mess when Keigo and Rukia attempted to cook using Ichigo's new stovetop... And this is when the chaos started...

* * *

"Let's make ham and eggs!" Rukia exclaimed, over-enthusiastic about using Ichigo's spacious kitchen. (She was banned from ever laying a hand on it again after that incident when she made flaming macaroni and cheese that took months to scrape off of the pan.) 

"Yeah, let's do that!" Keigo replied happily. Not like he was a better chef than Rukia.

Rukia twisted the black knob to a surreally high setting and pulled out a skillet.

"Hey, watch this. I saw it on Iron Chef!" Rukia grinned like a fool and cracked a pearly white egg on the pan after adding a humongous spoonful of oil to it. The white and yellow egg sizzled as it instantly fried in the burning hot oil. With a flick of her wrist, she flipped the egg into the air and tried to catch it with the pan again. However, since she wasn't the most coordinated cooker, the worst happened.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Keigo watched dumbly as the egg targeted him. He didn't realize the intensity of the heat until it plopped flat on his hand.

"Oh _FRIGGIN'_ snap! It _BURNS_! Get it off me!" Keigo ran around in circles like an idiot until the egg flew off and coincidentally landed back on the red-hot pan.

"Hey, it _does_ work!" Rukia was in awe, completely ignorant of what just happened before.

* * *

After 27 life-threatening tries, Rukia and Keigo actually managed to make eggs and ham, to say the least... The only problem was that it was completely charcoal-black and you couldn't even tell what it was, or what it had been before... 

"We're finished!"

"Oh yay, eggs!" Mizuiro was the first to run up to Rukia carrying the tray of what was supposed to be food.

He stopped short and stared at the black objects questioningly, "Er... What's that supposed to be?"

Rukia blinked, "Can't you tell they're eggs shaped like Chappy?"

_Eh... Nope, not at all..._ Mizuiro thought. On the outside, he laughed, "Hahah, yep... I can definitely see that. I'll just have a piece of this..." With much force, he pried out a chunk of crusty, black crap and brought it to his plate.

"It's really good!" Keigo encouraged.

Mizuiro grinned half-heartedly but was weeping on the inside, _Am I really going to eat this?_

The two greenhorn chefs kept their steady gaze on Test Subject A, waiting for him to try out their specialty.

Mizuiro slowly forked the crispy chunk and chewed it thoughtfully. His face immediately turned pale.

"Good, isn't it?" Rukia asked, bubbling over with pride.

Mizuiro nodded his head up and down feverishly and in the next second, he already disappeared to the bathroom.

"I think he likes it," Keigo nodded, "We should make more!"

* * *

Each victim who ate Rukia and Keigo's infamous Chappy Eggs had a sudden urge to rush to the toilet... And unfortunately, _everyone_ in Ichigo's house had a taste of the murderous venom. 

"Y-Yuki... Make an antidote for... this poison..." Hirosaki gagged.

Yuki was the one that was infected the least. Not even Rukia and Keigo could endure their own horrid creation.

Yuki staggered to the kitchen to make a miracle drink that was strong enough to save her friends. Two minutes later, she appeared to the mass of subconscious bodies with half a pitcher of Anti-Poison.

"I've created the antidote!" Yuki cried.

Putting the illness aside, all six of them fought like wild animals to receive the Anti-Poison first.

"You're a life saver..." Ishida coughed after downing the juice.

Everyone was finally cured thanks to Yuki's quick antidote-making skills.

"That didn't go too well... How about we make a better batch to make up for this one?" Keigo and Rukia suggested.

"_STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN!_"

* * *

**TBC...**

If this happened all in the afternoon, what will they do for the rest of the day? Find out in the next chappie!

Rukia: Did you say Chappy? (-fangirl squeal-)

No, go back to the Bleach World!

Rukia: Jeez, don't be so mean. You made me bipolar in the last chapter and now I'm a horrible cook. So now I'm a bipolar chef?

Hn. You'll be something else in the next chapter... kukuku

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R&R, por favor! -domo!- :)

* * *

**Message:::**

I've revised just about every chapter, 1-9! Some changes are minor, such as spelling mistakes that get looked over the first time reading through, and some are major, i.e. chapter 5 and others, where I changed the dialogue, paragraph cut-offs, etc.

There is **no way** I will be able to update any time soon. As I'm editing this part in, it's currently 11/20/06. The last time I updated was the end of September. Can you say major hiatus?? Check out my profile for more info on this...

I'm not dropping the story, I just need some time over Thanksgiving break and possibly winter break and beyond that, too... I should be able to close up the story within a few more chapters, depending on the way things turn out...

And above where it says Rukia might be something else in the next chapter, well, that plan made a u-turn and completely flopped... So now my next chapter is completely blank, empty, chicken scratch, bits of duct tape, whatever you want to call it. So Rukia **may** have a crazy role in the next chapter or she _might not_. It all depends on my oh-so-cruel writer's block and school... But like I said, I'm not dropping this story... yet...

_**-SP-**_


	10. The Cursed Tape of Doom

I'VE FINALLY COME BACK FROM THE DEAD! (for now..)

If you must know more, check my **profile** or the **end of the last chapter**...  
It's been seven months and fourteen days... Hn...  
This chapter didn't turn out the way I hoped it to be, but a rotting 7-month mind won't get me to the level I intended. But nevertheless, I present to you the next installment of When Two Strangers Come Along! (More like, "**Bipolar Rukia** _plus_ **Two OCs** _equals_ **Total Chaos**" XD)

Be warned, this story is officially on crack, OOCness, and vampires, of course... X)

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Manga spoiler regarding Ishida's Quincy powers... 

**Chapter Ten: "The Cursed Tape of Doom"**

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**7:30 PM, Saturday night:**

* * *

After an amazing turn of events, the Bleach crew survived the death-defying kitchen ordeal. Ichigo had placed a lifetime ban on Rukia and Keigo from ever setting foot on kitchen territory after that poisonous breakfast nearly killed them hours ago. The survivors were now lounging around Ichigo's living room, bored out of their wits. 

"Hey, Ichigo..."

"Yeah?"

"What is... the meaning of life?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Dude... You asked me this a hour ago... And I don't want to give you an answer 'cause knowing the Bleach series, I'd probably spend an entire freakin' episode explaining the meaning of life..."

"Right..." Rukia was silent as the six other teenagers sat limply on the floor, letting their minds vegetate. She then asked another random question.

"Why does juice taste good?"

Ichigo sighed and lifelessly responded, "Dunno, 'cause it's sweet and fruity?"

"Oh..." She paused again, "OK, then why are marshmallows puffy?"

"Beats me."

The group had to listen to Rukia's nonsense rambles for an hour. Just a while ago, she had asked, "What really is chicken of the sea?" and, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" (Which had Ichigo confused for the longest time...) Their eyes slowly drooped as they let the last ray of the warm sunlight fade away beyond the window.

In a dramatically climactic motion, Keigo whipped out a black rectangle hidden underneath his jacket.

"In my right hand..." he started to say boldly, "I hold the absolute cure to boredom."

"...Enlighten us..." Ishida yawned.

Keigo's beady eyes darted around the room, "Aha, though you don't seem to respect the tape now, you can be assured that you soon will..."

In one fluid motion, he slid the small tape out of its flimsy cover and into Ichigo's VCR player halfway across the room. Jabbing the play button he smirked and thought, _Your fate is now sealed!!_

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**Six torturous minutes later...**

* * *

"Augh! Turn that off!" Ishida screamed. 

"Why, are you afraid of a little scary movie?" Ichigo smirked, "It's just little bit of g-gore... N-nothing bad, r-right?" His eyes faced the horrific scarlet screen, then immediately darted away.

Only two pairs of eyes were completely mesmerized by all of this bloodshed- Rukia and Keigo, of course. They were in a dazed trance as if seeing an ethereal silvery unicorn for the first time.

"It's not too bad, is it, Yuki?" Hirosaki cowered behind his younger sister.

When the brown-haired girl didn't respond, he glanced up to see what was wrong. To his shock, she, too, had been caught in the movie's enticing spell.

"It's... beautiful..." she whispered delicately. Without her control, she reached for the thin screen and smoothly glided to where Keigo and Rukia were positioned, joining in their coven. The other two merely acknowledged her presence and kept their eyes on the mystical display.

"Um... In this situation, should we say 'She's one of them'?" Mizuiro jokingly pondered.

With that, the three of them stiffly turned their heads to send Mizuiro a chilling death glare. He immediately shrunk back to a far corner of the living room and whimpered in fear.

"Blood..." Rukia held out a deathly pale finger in front of her. Much to Ichigo, Hirosaki, and Ishida's horror, the finger was pointing towards _them_.

"That... doesn't look like a good sign..." Ichigo gulped.

Their suspicions were confirmed when Keigo and Yuki followed suit, jabbing their fingers at the three boys (plus Mizuiro, who just recently crawled over to be in the vicinity of human beings) in a possessed demeanor.

"Prey..." The trio stiffly stood up and slowly closed the space between their newfound 'prey.'

"Holy shnapp... I don't wanna dieee! Aughhgh!!" Ishida screamed liked the little girl he was and instinctively flew to the door. Unfortunately, it was completely sealed off and would not open by any means.

By now, the others were scared senseless as they attempted to lift open the windows or anything that could be remotely used as an exit.

"This has never happened before! Since when did my dad install an anti-break out confinement system?" Ichigo panicked.**  
**

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**-Flashback-**

"ICHIGOOO! Hey guess what? Since we're going on a camping trip today, I'm installing a new anti-break out confinement system! With its seven layers of reinforced steel and plexiglass, it renders you incapable of escape to go partying late night at someone's house! It's completely fool-proof!" he boasted on Thursday morning after Rukia left his room to head off for school.

"Wait, that keeps me from getting _out_, but what if someone tries to break_ in_? What freakin' protects me from that?" Ichigo protested.

"Oh nonsense, who could possibly break in uninvited while we're gone?" Isshin laughed as if it were the most ridiculous thing he ever heard.

Oh, the irony...

**-End Flashback-**

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Ichigo frowned thoughtfully, "Ah... That." 

Mizuiro ran around in a circle screaming, "ZOMG, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!" while Ishida rammed uselessly against the door. Seeing there was nothing more he could physically do, Ishida called forth his uber mad spirit particle arrow-drawing skillz. In his right arm formed a glowing blue bow.

"O yea, i is teh 1337 pwn0rz! Fear me now!!1!11!" Ishida cackled.

"Dude, Ishida, your Quincy powers aren't supposed to return yet...!" Ichigo hissed and shielded the audience from the oh-so-shocking manga spoiler, "At least put spoiler tags around it!"

"But the anime's so close to showing it!"

"Don't corrupt the innocent-minded with futuristic events!"

"That sucks..." Ishida groaned and placed spoiler tags around his awesomeness.

(spoiler) Seeing there was nothing more he could physically do, Ishida called forth his uber mad spirit particle arrow-drawing skillz. In his right arm formed a glowing blue bow.

"O yea, i is teh 1337 pwn0rz! Fear me now!!1!11!" Ishida cackled.

With his perfected arrow-shooting technique, he aimed for the center of the door and released the piercing blue energy. (/spoiler)

Despite his pitiful shots, the door didn't give way. Ishida fumed until he noticed the suffocating demonic energy spewing from Keigo, Yuki and Rukia a mere five feet away from them.

This time, all three boys (Hirosaki had long left the scene) shrieked like adolescent females realizing one of their perfectly manicured nails broke. Without a second thought, they split up and fled for their lives within the small Kurosaki Clinic.

Keigo lifelessly glanced at Rukia, who then focused her eyes on Yuki. The younger Kazama sibling, being the mastermind she was, merely nodded. The three zombies swiftly disappeared on their separate ways to pursue their unfortunate victims.

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Let the survival of the fittest begin... 

**TBC.  
**

**NOTE:** I won't be able to make promises on when the next chapter will be up... Nothing as long as seven months, that's for sure.

* * *

**OMAKE:**

The darkness that shrouded him was starting to become overwhelming. He didn't know how much longer he could endure this before he snapped... But of course, he had to remain absolutely silent and controlled in this situation. All hope was riding on this single moment. If he screwed up in the slightest bit, he would be in this purgatory for life.

Oh, where was Saki-kun and Yuki-san when he needed them most?

_No,_ Kira Izuru gritted his teeth purposefully, _I must be self-sufficient... I can't depend on them all the time._

Today was the day... It _had_ to be. Fate seemed to be on his side, granting him a dark, new moon night and the reassuring sound of snores coming from the demented shop owner's room. At long last, it was Liberation Day.

Slowly, and stealthily, Kira crept out to the front of the shop. Only three insignificant feet stood in the way of him and his gateway to freedom. After he touched that sweet, sweet wooden frame, he knew nothing could stop him from bolting out the door and into the starless night.

_But first_, he reminded himself, _I need to actually _get_ to the door_...

Kira inched towards his ticket to the 'outside world.' Just two more feet... Twelve inches... three inches... He desperately reached out for the little handle, controlling his urge to just break down the weak structure. But he had to admit, total demolition of the door did seem very tempting at the moment...

The blond-haired boy finally grabbed hold of the little crevice used for sliding the door. Without further, _very_ prolonged ado, he slid open the thin material just a crack...

Not one blaring alarm sounded. No blinding search lights flashed in his eyes. Kira blinked; confused for half a second. And then he ran.

Kira sprinted faster than a fearful gazelle during hunting season. Once the little gazelle reached the forest, he knew he would be safe from any pursuers.

His plan was inevitably flawed. That crazed madman had set up traps in advance, undoubtedly knowing that Kira would try and escape one day. After all, Urahara was not one to hand someone's freedom to them for _free_, now was he?

It should be noted that these traps were not simple wires used for tripping the victim; they were meant solely for killing... Or at least, permanently crippling Kira for life.

He let out a high-pitched scream as he forced himself to sprint faster towards the vast clump of trees 50 meters away, all the while dodging flaming kunai, spiked chains, poison-tipped needles, and larger-than-life snapping bear traps.

As if all the murder attempts didn't scare him enough, he saw something far worse. Over on the hill leading to his sacred haven of trees stood the weapon of mass destruction himself, Urahara Kisuke.

"Holy sh---!" Kira managed to gasp.

Horror-stricken and dazed, he kept his wide eyes on Urahara and unwittingly ran straight to the predator. Urahara swiftly tied Kira up with a rope he pulled out of thin air and sped off to the the shop with his freshly caught quarry...

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.


End file.
